Bethany College - Daisy Yearbook (Lindsborg, KS)

Page 16 text:

P Page Twelve

Page 15 text:

:Bed l-l9A9l3 Main Building

Page 17 text:

Col. C. A. Smith Many of the great institutions of learning owe their existence and usefulness to some noble-hearted, generous-minded man who befriended the struggling young insti- tution in its days of need. ' Bethany is fortunate in having found such a generous noble-hearted friend and benefactor in the person of Mr. Carl Axel Smith, the millionaire lumber dealer and manufacturer of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. C. A. Smith formed a strong attachment of friendship to the late Dr. C. A. Swensson, and during the lifetime of Dr. Swensson he became deeply interested in his educational enterprise, and on several occasions ex- tended valuable help. After Dr. Swensson's death Mr. Smith made the proposition to raise an endowment fund for Bethany to be named the Carl Swensson Fund, and gener- ously offered to give one dollar for every dollar raised by the management of the College until the endowment fund shall reach two hundred thousand dollars. Already Mr. Smith has transferred in value fifty thousand dollars to the College for this fund, and stands ready to redeem his pledge to the last dollar as soon as the College man- agement and the people .of the Kansas Conference can do their part. By this generous offer many others have been induced to give liberally to the support of the college and the best hopes are entertained that the entire fund will be raised, and the College, thereby, placed on a safe financial basis. ' Mr. C. A. Smith was born in Sweden in 1852 and comes from a soldier family. At fourteen years of age he came to America in company with his father. They settled in Minnesota, and young Carl Axel used to walk five miles through the snow to attend school and learn his first English. Later he Went to Minneapolis where he attended the public schools for a time. He enrolled as a student in the Minnesota State Uni- versity and continued his studies there for some time, and at the same time worked for Governor John S. Pillsbury to earn his living. Serious illness compelled him to dis- continue his university course. Young Mr. Smith had gained the confidence of Gover- nor Pillsbury and this excellent gentleman nade him a partner in a lumber and imple- ment business on a small scale to begin with. Under Mr. Smith's management the business prospered. The firm became known as C. A. Smith 85 Company, and thus was laid the foundation for the largest lumber iranufacturing company in America today. Governor Pillsbury put 55,000 into the business when the firm was formed. In 1899 Mr. Smith bought out the Pillsbury interest in the firm for S980,000. This is a record of most wonderful success. Mr. Smith employs between two and three thousand men in his business. He has never had a strike by his laborers. He takes a warm interest in their welfare and has distributed as much as 325,000 at a single Christmas as gifts to his employees. If all capitalists and employers were like him there would be little trouble between capital and labor. He is a millionaire many times over and uses l1is wealth wisely and well. Mr. C. A. Smith is a splendid type of that manly, honest and vigorous race which is so desirable an addition to the citizenship of the great republic. He is a noted ex- ample of the strong, self-reliant, forceful business men who have built up the great Northwest. Notwithstanding his great business relations and his wonderful success as a business man, his interest is not confined to commerce alone. He is deeply interested in the educational and religious work of the Lutheran church of which he is a useful and honored member. He has given generously of his means to colleges and churches and other worthy causes. Mr. Smith was a presidential elector in 1896 and a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, which nominated McKinley and Roosevelt in 1900. I-Ie has served his state' and city with distinction in many a public service and is looked upon as a leading man in this field of activity also. Bethany rejoices to number among her foremost friends this excellent gentleman and generous, public-spirited business man. ' - Page Thirteen